And Send Her My Greetings
by stay.traught.i'm.deactivated
Summary: And all I could think of was Artemis and the utterly broken look she gave me as my tongue slipped at that airport, asking her to tell her dead mom I said hi. — College 'verse AU, Artemis's mom lives in Vietnam. drabble


**And Send Her My Greetings  
**

* * *

**Summary: **And all I could think of was Artemis and the utterly _broken_ look she gave me as my tongue slipped at that airport, asking her to tell her _dead_ _mom_ I said hi. — College 'verse AU, Artemis's mom lives in Vietnam. drabble  
**Rating:** T  
**Characters/Pairing(s): **Paula, Wally, Artemis, slight Spitfire

* * *

The road, a narrow, stuffy black strip, was full of slowly driving cars and taxis dropping off their occupants in front of the grand San Franciscan Airport. I slowly pushed down on the brake and the car slowed down, temporarily parking to help unload my friend's suitcases.

"So, I guess I won't be seeing you again for the next few months?" I asked her, my voice sounding so devoid of any emotion – just like how I felt now: empty and numb and just so _tired_.

"Yea," she sighed, nodding in agreement. Her eyes, usually a beautiful grey sparkling with life, were as dull as the cloudy, grey sky before the storm. "Don't forget; I– I'm just an email away. Okay?"

"More like half a world away," I muttered under my breath, uncharacteristically bitter. But then again, no one really was _in character _now. Tragedies tended to do that to people.

She flashed me a look of concern. _Are you sure you'll be okay? _the look seemed to ask me. It was a look that she seemed to aim at me more and more recently. I turned away, not meeting her intense gaze. I hauled her heavy suitcase out of the car and dropped it at her feet.

"Goodbye," I said bluntly, my back facing her.

She placed a tentative hand on my shoulder; I flinched, but I didn't turn around.

"Are you _sure_ you'll be okay?" she asked, so full of concern and worry that it almost hurt to hear her sound so upset. It was whispered so softly that I could only barely hear her. I just harshly shrugged her hand off and whirled around to face her.

"Artemis, I'll be fine, alright?" I snapped, causing her to flinch back a bit, looking scared at my sudden outburst. I immediately felt bad.

"Wait, no! I'm– I'm sorry," I stuttered profusely, stepping forward and grabbing her hand. "I shouldn't have snapped at you, Artemis. I'm just – It's just... everything is getting to me, is all."

She pulled me into a tight hug, and I could have sworn I heard her, a feisty, tough blonde that almost never cried, let out a choked sob. I hugged her back tightly.

"It's getting to all of us, Wally," she whispered softly in my ear.

We probably could have stood there forever, but suddenly, a car behind us honked and we stepped apart. Artemis gave me the ghost of a smile, a smile that usually always sent my heart racing but now just tore my heart in two to see her try so _hard_ to seem okay. Then she inhaled deeply, calmly, as if mentally readying herself to leave for what could be half a year – even more.

"I'll see you soon, okay Wally?"

I nodded. "Soon," I agreed.

The car honked again. Scowling at it, I marched back to my door and sat down in my seat. The engine roared to life and I looked back to see Ivy waving at me.

"Goodbye!"she yelled grandly, eyes sparking with just the slightest hint of their old life. It almost felt like old times again – the times before life caught up to us and things went south as reality struck with its storms full of tragedies we didn't need.

"Have fun in Vietnam, Artemis!" I shouted back instantly, a small smile tugging at the corner of my lips. "And don't forget to tell Paula I said hello–!" I stopped instantly, eyes widening in shock and smile dropping off my face. Whatever small spark of life her face held just a moment ago instantly disappeared, replaced with an expression full of hurt and pain and tears glistening in the corner of her eyes.

_It hurt._

I turned away from her shattered expression, speeding away from the airport as fast as I could. Tears that I thought had dried up long ago now threatened to spill during the whole two-hour ride back home.

As I drove into the familiar background of our city, the park we always used to hang out in came into view and snow started to drift down from the sky. I pulled the car over in the empty, snow-covered park, violently unbuckling my seatbelt and storming out of the driver's seat. I trudged through the snow, ignoring the harsh and biting cold and blindly continuing on.

When I reached our bench under our tree, I collapsed tiredly into the cold steel frame and let myself fall apart. Tears I didn't even know I still had to spare flowed freely down my cheeks, hot as fire compared to the numbingly cold weather around me.

And all I could think of was Artemis and the utterly _broken_ look she gave me as my tongue slipped at that airport, asking her to tell her _dead_ _mom_ I said hi.


End file.
